Star Trek: The Next Generation: Before Dishonor [Mass Market Paperback]

I was very, very disappointed with this story, and frankly angry that I read it. Picard and Janeway, who are treated as heroes in most of Star Trek, are treated horribly here. A mutiny on the Enterprise has been done before, and should be unthinkable by an author who truly respects these characters. It seemed like all Peter David cared about was making them the butt of jokes. It just wasn't funny.

Shockingly enough, especially from a writer as talented as Peter David, Before Dishonor is one of the more bizarre books ever written in the Trek universe. Bizarre because David's tone, which is always so incredibly involving and perfect for the Trek universe, somehow goes completely off-kilter. Witness:

*a heck of a lot of people die in this book. Yet, for some reason, David plays it like a joke. I guess it really hit home to me when Admirals are betting on the end of the world, an entirely inappropriate exchange whose inclusion defies explanation.

*the Vulcan is a bigot. What other explanation is there? T'Lana, one of the more disgraceful characters ever to populate the Trek universe, is a bigot - she hates emotion, and she hates Klingons, and she hates being wrong. Ok, I can handle this is an ordinary Vulcan, but in a Star Fleet Officer? No. Unless we've returned to Enterprise again.

*mutiny becomes a laughing matter. Even more bizarre, new officers take it upon themselves to seize the ship and imprison fearless Picard and Spock and all the rest. None of this made any sense, especially in the context of the characterizations in Q & A (note - David has said in a published interview that he was never given a copy of Q & A before writing this book).

*dumb people abound. All you can say after reading Resistance and Death in Winter and Q & A is that we are totally doomed if these people are running the Federation. It was so bad it was painful.

*incomplete characters. A lady Q who appears for reasons unknown (one supposed that other Q wasn't finished in the stuff in Q & A), and Spock shows up and security officers run here and there, and unlike other David novels these guys and gals become card-board characters after a while. Heck, David even manages to dispatch Janeway into Boredom Borgdom before an interesting character study can emerge. Finally, William Wallac....ah, M. Calhoun makes an appearance to remind readers to buy a different series than this miserable book.

*the world (universe) that we know is at risk. First Resistance, then Q & A, and now this - for pete's sake, how many times can the EXACT same premise be told and still be entertaining? Heck, couldn't the writers at least do every OTHER book as a world/universe at risk story instead of EVERY single time?

But sure, there are a couple good moments, perhaps highlighted by an entertaining 'what happens when Worf gets phasered bit' but even then there is no way in Hades that Worf 'accidentally' hits a woman. It just wouldn't happen.

Don't get me wrong - the book moves quickly, the action is fast paced, and there are assorted moments of mirth. However, mirth and end of the world as we know it don't usually mix, and it seems pretty obvious that Darkness of the Light took priority over this hack job.

Of course, that's not such a bad thing - Darkness of the Light is a lot more interesting in the first 5 pages than this one is in the first 200, but what do you expect from Trek fiction these days? Fiction for adults?

Nope!

How sad.

First of all ... The Borg. Again. ZZZZZZZZZ

Second ... hate Voyager much? Cuz it certainly doesn't show in your writing ... NOT.

I have been a loyal Peter David fan for longer than I can remember. I've followed the New Frontier series from the beginning and I've bought many books I would never have looked twice at otherwise simply because Peter David was the author.

But this book was not just a let down, it was heart-breaking.

He's made it clear that he doesn't like Voyager. But the way he defiles it in this book is inexcusable.

He may hate Captain Janeway, but millions of Star Trek fans around the world love the character, as they do Picard and the rest of the captains. Killing her off while the potential for so many Voyager stories remains was not necessary for the storyline to be successful.

And having her killed off by an author who so clearly disliked the character was especially cruel to her fans - and we are many.

Kathryn Janeway's death should have been written by an author who loved her, or at the very least respected her a little bit. Christie Golden could write it and I could swallow it. But for Peter David to do it - I can't help but feel like he had no right to do it, and it was a rather cruel slap in the face to his fans who like Voyager, even though he does not.

I'm not sure I'll ever buy a Peter David book again.

What a shame. The death of a beloved character and loss of respect for one of my all time favorite authors.

Why'd ya have to go there, Mr. David? If this book is canon, then I think my days of buying Star Trek books are over as well. And I know I'm not alone here...

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